Microcosmic orbit Question

Kundalini, Chakras & Energy Work
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This set follows the Energy Gates set and is exclusively taught in person. I’m curious why individuals are discouraged from practicing the microcosmic orbit (MSO) on their own.

Spiraling Energy Body Qigong:

“Spiraling Energy Body is emotionally and energetically challenging and should be learned only after you have developed a good foundation in the physical and energetic practices of Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body and have a stable grasp of both the standing/dissolving and the moving techniques.”

Neigong aspects of Spiraling Energy Body Qigong program shift your attention to:

Directing the upward flow of energy
Projecting chi along the body’s spiraling pathways
Neutralizing and transforming negative energy (both your own and that imposed by the environment)
Delivering or projecting energy at will to or from any part of the body
Activating the body’s left, right and central channels and then the micro-cosmic orbit.

I wonder if a person needs to master scanning, sensing, and dissolving blocks to prepare for or practice the MSO, or if they must progress all the way to spine stretching and become proficient in all the preceding exercises from Opening the Energy Gates. In other words, for someone new to Qi Gong or Nei Gong who has picked up Opening the Energy Gates, at what point in the book can they begin practicing the MSO?

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You can start to practice the microcosmic orbit any time and there are plenty of non-qi gong and magick focused books that can provide instruction on how. The Water Method of Bruce Frantzis takes a different approach than the usual methods of visualization and intention, though, so being proficient in the foundational practices are necessary because the system is not dependent on using force.

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They’re just being responsible. There’s a chance that incorrect practice will cause imbalance and you will have no-one there to help. Imbalance in most ways will sort itself out with rest, sleep and healthy lifestyle, but in some cases, especially if there is already imbalance, it can get difficult. Imagine you started qigong with a heart condition, brought in too much yang energy into your heat and gave yourself a heart attack.

You can mitigate this by being slow and careful, and taking care of any discomfort by dialing it back and grounding, the go for a walk in nature and calm it down.

Tip: if you go red in the face, start feeling stressed and your heart starts beatng hard, you get palpitations or your breathing becomes difficult, do that ^ stop and ground and bring yourself back to baseline.

Having said that I’ve never seen anyone having issues, unlike kundalini practice where lots of people report issues, qigong is considered safer than kundalini meditations for this reason.

Personally, I think this is WAY safer than say “vampirism” or out of context “third eye meditations”, which also get reports of issues, sickness and headaches.

No, you will pick up these skills by practicing the microcosmic orbit.

Any point. Your book is silly, I already told you this and gave you better ones.

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Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body is the first book in the Water tradition taught by Bruce Frantzis. The microcosmic orbit isn’t taught in that system until much later because the practices of outer and inner dissolving are seen as far more important. You want to remove any blockages before trying to force your qi through.

In contrast to the Water tradition, the Fire tradition, which is the most common method seen in the West, uses force to burn through blockages and can cause physical problems if it’s not done properly. The Water tradition is more powerful, but the Fire tradition offers quicker results.

If you have the time, I highly recommend learning the complete Water tradition through Bruce Frantzis’ books and videos. If you are only interested in the microcosmic orbit, then there are plenty of magick focused books that skip the preliminaries and give intructions on how to get started.

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Exactly, I remember you mentioning that the Water tradition is more thorough, while the Fire tradition tends to be less impactful

Which other books cover the full Water tradition? A few days ago, I purchased the video course for the Energy Gates book, so I assume you’re referring to a course with videos?

I came across the book recommendation from Mulberry (see below), but I’m curious about where the EG book fits in. Are there any books I can omit if the content is already covered?

Does the Energy Gates book lay a solid foundation that makes it possible to work through the Mantak material without issues? I want to avoid getting ill.

Preliminary:
• The Root of Chinese Qigong 2nd Ed.: Secrets of Health, Longevity, & Enlightenment

(these all from Mantak Chia)
• Awaken Healing Energy Through The Tao: The Taoist Secret of Circulating Internal Power
• Fusion of the Five Elements: Meditations for Transforming Negative Emotions
• The Inner Smile: Increasing Chi through the Cultivation of Joy
• The Six Healing Sounds: Taoist Techniques for Balancing Chi
Advanced:
• The Taoist Soul Body: Harnessing the Power of Kan and Li
• The Practice of Greater Kan and Li: Techniques for Creating the Immortal Self
• Sealing of the Five Senses: Advanced Practices for Becoming a Taoist Immortal

I don’t think the book is silly, since DK has mentioned it multiple times, saying things like:

“Bruce Frantzis is a lineage holder in the Water tradition of Qi Gong. His book Opening the Energy Gates of the Body is superb.”
“Personally, I like the work of Bruce Frantzis. His book Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body is very good.”
“Bruce Frantzis teaches the Water Tradition of Qi Gong. It is very powerful.”

I will go through the books you shared, but I want to start with the EG book because I know it focuses on Nei Gong, not just Qi Gong. I have a question about the advanced books in the Qi Gong recommendation you provided. Do the three books in the advanced section cover kundalini raising? I’ve also heard that Kan and Li represent two energy currents, so I’m curious about the specific content of these three books.

Additionally, I skimmed through the index of Awaken Healing Energy through the Tao: Taoist Secret of Circulating Internal Power and noticed it covers inner smile techniques, but I couldn’t find the book The Inner Smile: Increasing Chi through the Cultivation of Joy. Do you think it’s necessary to buy this one, since some of the information is already covered in the MSO book?

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Mantak Chia teaches a Fire tradition so his techniques are different to those of Bruce Frantzis. They are more forceful, with a different emphasis, and he does have warnings in his books about doing too much too fast. He also has some religious dogma as well.

If you were to learn the Water tradition first, then in my opinion yes, the Fire tradition would be safer. Bruce Frantzis first learned the Fire tradition, and then when he saw the power of the Water tradition, he asked to learn it.

I don’t know if there are books that cover the full tradition but Opening the Energy Gates, Longevity Breathing and Relaxing into Being present the foundational practices of the Bruce Frantzis system.

Not really, because the Mantak Chia system and the Bruce Frantzis system are very different in their approaches. I think the Mantak Chia system is the more well known of the two. Some of Mantak Chia’s practices, like the inner smile and the six healing sounds, however, can compliment the Bruce Frantzis system. Combining the inner smile with the dissolving practice can be very effective, for example.

Ultimately, it comes down to what it is you’re looking for. Like magick itself, energy practices like Nei Gong and qi gong are vast, with many traditions and systems developed over the centuries and what we in the West have access to is just a tear drop in the ocean. If you are just looking for something to enhance your magick, then all you really need is something like the Precious Eight, which are physical Nei Dan exercises for health and longevity. If you only want to practice the microcosmic orbit, then there are plenty of books that teach it from a magical context, such as Western Sex Magick by Frater UD, and Sexual Sorcery by Jason Augustus Newcomb or Path Notes of An American Ninja Master, which teaches it within a martial arts context.

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I don’t think anyone else here owns that book. Based on the except you posted, it’s dumbed down to the point of uselessness and you’d be better off with Mantak Chias books by themselves.

They are not “gates” at a fundamental level as I explained. That alone makes me suspect the books usefulness.
Language is important, and that is a very misleading term.

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I do :joy:

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Can you explain how techniques from the Six Healing Sounds can complement exercises from Bruce’s EG set?

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The Six Healing Sounds can be done before or after the EG set.

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